Gaara's Puzzle
by Sunrisex57
Summary: Taking place after the battle with Naruto,the story begins with Gaara knocked out and reflecting back on his life. 3
1. Sincere Dream

_Shot down by my foe, my eyes blacken to the world. My body felt like it was scorched, my limbs refused to move. Something was crushing my lungs, making it difficult to breath. I tried to force air into my body, my eyes clenched shut. Cold air entered my throat, causing me to cough, as it fills up my lungs, my heart beat descended to normal. My lips twitch, I'm confused… _

_To live to kill, just another weapon in their eyes, just another… _a river of pain shots through my spine, my couching increases. My lips presses to a line.

"arggh" I screetch. Through closed lips

_Pain.. Blood… this is how it feels like.. To be a live… to feel physical pain.. To be able to understand how my foes felt, when I crushed them to death with my sand, as I filled their lungs with my crystals, suffocating them. My sand… flooding through there body, scraping the inside surface. There faces… I understand now.. Why they made those faces. Why they cringed, why they fought with fear, why they prepared for the pain and how they learned to embrace it and turn it into motivation, but I always thought they were just being ignorant. Why would they fight on with their dying breath when they knew they had no chance I'd think to myself, and Sometimes even aloud I mocked _them. Then Temari _and Kankuro would stare at me, their eyes hinted frustration towards me, and compassion for the victim, but never dared say a word to me. No one would say anything that would irritate me, go against me… Go against me… maybe not their words but their actions.. attempts to kill me, destroy me.. Why…_

_The past flashes through my head, screen plays of fights I've been through. The pain and terror in their eyes as death approached them, sucking the life out like a vacuum. The moment before their death, my victims eyes blackened. They must have been blindly watching their life pass by, their friends, families. All their lies and disappointments, their happiness and joy. Their enemies and their arguments, their passed…but what hurt the most probably was the future, the future they would not have because of me.. _

_Scenes of a little child with no parents, clutching a teddy bear… clutching the teddy bear his mother… Mocking voic_es _surrounding him, yells and cries as I approach, I always wondered if my spirit was locked up in the grim reapers body, and the mirror just reflected what was really inside. But soon, I discovered why they feared me. Why they ran as I approached the play ground, why they didn't include me in there games, and why my uncle hated me… because I am a monster. A cold hearted monster that destroys anything that gets in my way, anything that tries to hurt me automatically disincarnates. Eyes, disapproving eyes, always glaring, always judging the monster sealed inside me like I want it there.. Like I could control it.. LIKE IT WAS MY FAULT, MY FAULT THAT I KILLED.. MY FAULT THAT… I was indestructible. The ultimate weapon that's to dangerous for any village… just a weapon… just a weapon… _

Then another picture emerges completely washing away the fragments of emotions of the other scenes.

_To live for others… his voice echoed through my head_

Who said that.. Who's voice is this? Who's…

The image in my head begins to clear, I can make out blond spiky hair… blue eyes… the image continues to sharpen it self, soon I can see every crater in his face, ever scratch on his visible body parts and every hole in his outfit... Naruto Uzamaki

_To live for others… _

_His voice haunts me.. His face… his spirit.. How could he be so much like me, but still have a heart filled with compassion and sympathy, how could he forgive the ones that mock him, fear him, and try to take his life. How…_

"Gaara!" someone calls, a voice, a familiar voice… my eyes flutter open, sand still in the creases. Naruto lays a couple feet next to me. His body looks much like mine except for the smile planted on his face.

"Naruto.." My voice responds his eyes held mine.. "Thank you…" my voice trails off, my eyes shut for what I thought would be an eternity.

_Light lifts up my eyes. Temari and Kankuro sit in red velvet chairs next to me, sound a sleep. Temari's blonde hair is covered in a thin layer of dirt, her eyes bruised, and her body sluggish. Kankuro's hair is sprinkled in bug blood and the smell.. Rust.. Sweet rust… STOP IT, I command myself, I cant be addicted.. To the feeling…the taste…of the Blood.. _

"Gaara!" My blonde hair angel called out, his spikes were flatten from the rain. "Gaara! Are you alright?"

"Yes.." My weak voice answers, unrecognizable to myself, never really paid attention to my voice. " Why did you…" my voice trails off like last time we talked.

"Because Gaara, were the same, your just like me. I know how hard it is.. And I want to be your friend." His eager voice replies. His soft eyes, not judging me, not fearing me, and holds something in them for me.. Compassion?

_Friend… I never had a friend before.. What is a friend to exact? Some one who is not afraid someone who trusts, someone who cares for me? _

My deflated limbs gain air, I stumbled up, gripping the sides of the bed. Metal… Cold… I feel like I never seen it before..

My feet roll over the bed, lightly gliding against the marble floor.

" Cold, freezzing" I say under my breath. As I Stand up for the first time with my new eyes, I reach for Naruto, wrapping my arms around his frame. His eyes widen and my legs begin to clasp.

"Gaara!" _His arms tighten around me, his smell… he smells like dirty socks.. His face bruised and scratched from our duel. His eyes though.. They are so bright, soo bright…_

"Gaara! Are you ok?" He slumps me awkwardly back on my bed, and he tries shifting my position until my head lays stiff on the pillow.

"Naru..to" My lips carve out the words, but my voice does not descend.

"Gaara…" he places his rough, warm hand on my cheek. " You are my friend."

My eyes slip shut, slumbering became of my weakness.. "I can't sleep… the monster…"

" Don't worry Gaara theirs a bracelet on you that will monitor the beast and wake you up if anything happens.." His voice was soft, soothing, so my mind began to drift off.

" Naruto.. Thank you" my eyes shut again and I drift off to dream for the first time.

"_What is it…", a voice I recognized… a voice… who's…_

"_It's my son of course", pride and joy laced in her voice, her eyes lovingly scanning the child clenched in her arms. Entangling him, and comforting him… _

"_It's a demon", declares the man… his face, it reflects the child's face. But his eyes… no the eyes weren't his.. _

"_He's our child", defense lays thick in her voice, her eyes began to weaken, " And I love him…" her voice begins to fade, her eyes being pulled down as her heart rate descends. "Even if it kills me…" _


	2. Awakening

Authors note *I decided to give up on it italizing what Gaara is thinking, it got to confusing for me lol*

I open my eyes, and I see him, sitting there, waiting. Waiting for me to awaken from my first slumber. I look down at my bracelet. Blue, thick, and metal. It clings to my wrist. Not tight enough to cut off my circulation, but tight enough so there is absolutely no possibility of it slipping off. It also matches me hospital gown… how perfect… I look over to Naruto, and realize he's fast asleep. His face is drooping down, and his eyes seem to have weights attached to them. Whistles blow out of his nose giving a soft restful tune that warms my body, as his body hunches over its self.

I decide to scan over my self to see the condition I'm in. My right arm is wrapped in a linen, white, tape and my left leg is elevated on a pillow but is covered in a sapphire colored blanket . Scratches plague my body, like someone was writing in Japanese characters over my skin, branding me with a curse. My abdominals feel sore, for the first time ever, and needles are plunged into my arms. I began to try to lift my head, but my neck can't support the weight, and my head falls to the cotton pillow. I. Can't. Get. Out. Of. This. Bed.

"Urggggahh nuf", I screech trying with all my will power to get out of this trap… this place I'm confined in! " Frrr nuf grrrr" I fall to the floor, sharp pains coursing through out my body. "Errrfff!" I yelp, my eyes widen, fear flooding through my vanes. I'm not yet used to this "pain".

"Gaara! Calm down", Naruto quickly is to his feet and already bending over to lift me up to the bed, but I have no plans of letting him touch me or being placed back in that trap of a bed. I roll away towards the door, but I know I'm no match to him in this condition.

" Don't touch me..", I growl at him, his arms only a foot away from my torso. His eyes flickering with concern and fear.. Of course the fear… I don't think that can ever be removed completely from my victims.

"Gaara.. I just want to help you. Your in no condition to leave your bed", He whispers to me, his eyes pleading for me to cooperate.

" Don't…", my voices begins, but he cuts me off by grabbing me, cradling me in his arms. My head rests on his shoulder, and my breath tickles his skin. His chest rubs against my body, flickering this heat.. A heat I never experienced, but before I can try and decipher what is causing this heat, he rests me on the bed. I am trapped.

" Gaara, you need rest", he whispers to me, he is so close to my face I can taste his breath. His eyes are locked with mine, trying to make me understand, trying to get me to stay calm. My heart beat increases, and the monitors around begin to beat, making Naruto instantly back away. His eyes flicker to the monitor, and my face begins to feel a different type of heat. I think my face is red.

" Are you ok Gaara?", Worry spreads through his words, not realizing that he caused it. Something about his voice, and his eyes makes me feel so… different.

" I'm fine", I mutter, eyes looking a way, my voice still horse from the battle.

" Are you sure Gaara?" He says.. Sort of playfully.. Like he's catching on to something.. He begins to get closer to me, until his faces is only inches away from mine. " Because it seems like something has gotten your heart to race… Your not afraid of me are you? " He chuckles, and I feel relieved. I don't know what I'm feeling, but I'm sure I don't want Naruto to know. A mischievous smile plays on his lips, giving him this alluring feeling, replacing the yearning I feel for blood. Is this what is called as friendship? This desire to.. Be with this person.. To be close to this person?

" I'm going to go get a doctor to check up on you, so you better stay there till I come back! Okay?" He exclaims, his hand in a fist, except for the thumb.. The thumb is sticking up indicating that he trust I'll stay in the bed? Either way I have no choice. Even if I was planning to make a grand escape, I am to weak to walk.

"Naruto.. Can you get Temari and Kankuro for me?" I mumble, eyes shut, wondering what expression has been placed on his vibrant face. Knowing his eyes are looking down on me with sympathy and compassion.. How could he forgive me. My village destroyed his and I tried to kill him and his comrades. How could he…

" Of course, you can count on me"

I don't need to open my eyes to know that smile is stretching across his forgiving face… But why..

I hear the door slam behind him, his foot steps sloppy and loud, cluttering down the halls of the hospital. Slowly they begin to decease, so I stare up at the ceiling waiting for his return. What else is there to do, I've never been in this position of weakness… Never been in a hospital, of course, with one exception. An exception my father wishes never happened. My birth.

Naruto's POV

Raising down the halls, I halt when I bump into Gaara's doctor.

" Hey Dr. Baldy, Gaara is awake now!", I exclaim. His eyebrows come together, making the wrinkles in his forehead more defined… He really shouldn't do that, it helps bring out his boldness a lot. I wonder if bold people wash their head… and what type of soap they use because there's no real point of shampoo when you can just use bar soap…

" Mr. Uzamaki I presume" His eyes roll, clearly remembering me.. Haha I get that a lot. "I will check on your friend in just a minute, I just need to finish up this proscription then I'll be right with you."

" Thanks Dr. Baldy, and by the way your head looks extra shiny today," I say, giving him a full teeth smile before I sprint down the halls towards Gaara's room… Gaara, that name sends an electric pulse through out my body. The boy who was my enemy, who tried to destroy everything I've come to love. A cold heart monster that no one loved. But not anymore, I can tell, just by looking in his aqua eyes, that he has changed, his need for blood has changed. He is no longer the monster he used to be, and when I look at him now, all I can feel is sympathy and compassion for this boy. He is a lot like me, the old me, and the only difference being that he never had anyone to care for him. His whole village leapt in fear at the sight of him. His only purpose to them was as a weapon, but then they decided he was to dangerous to be even used as a weapon. A monster that couldn't be controlled was all they saw, a monster they tried to destroy, and a monster they avoided, feared, and hated. Then he believe that he was the monster and he began to act like one. Embracing the one tailed beast's powers and destroying all those who stand in his way, just how they expected him to be. But I know the truth, deep down in his heart he feels lonely and unloved. Just a creature that was meant to cause pain and never to feel joy. I know because that's exactly how I used to feel but then I made friends with Iruka Sensei, then with team 7 and the rest of the hidden leave village ninja. And that if he got a true friend, that he wouldn't feel so lonely all the time. And maybe in time his whole village will see the person he truly is. And that's what I plan to be for him, because in all honesty I love him more than I could love anyone else, because he understands how I felt and how I will always feel. Because as long as this beast in damned in both of us, then we will both always be cursed in other people eye's as a monster, or a weapon of mass destruction. However, there are some people who are willing to look past our monsters we've been cursed with. And those people will deserve the title of friend. I just hope Gaara can make friends with his village as I have made with mine….

"Crash!", I slam into Temari and Kankuro, resulting in all of us tumbling to the floor. Kankuro's eyes lock on me, growling, he's trying to decide if he should attack me or see what I have to say.

"Whoa! Sorry Guys, I didn't mean to run into you like that. I was just on my way to find you ( oh yea that's what I needed to do), when well I guess I did find you.. Huh…", I smile, praying they won't kill me.

" Where's Gaara", Temari demands, her voicing containing acid. Her eyes piercing and Kankuro isn't much friendlier.

" Right down the hall", I quickly say, they don't seem very patient. " If you guys can just cool down and follow me with out trying to kill me.."

" Lets go", Kankuro's voice commands, his eyes set on the hall in front of us.

" Okay… huh.. Downward!", I exclaim flying down the hall like a super hero.

" Does he really have to be so retarded," Temari huffs, as we make our way to Gaara's room.


	3. Sweet Depart

Gaara's POV

Three enter the room, Temari, Kankuro, and of course, Naruto Uzumaki. Every time I see him, I feel like.. I need him.. Need him to live on, like if he died, there would be no point of walking this earth. No point in anything. He's my savoir, bringing me back to life, because before I was better off being dead.

" Gaara!", Temari, of course, exclaims. Her eyes looking over me, calculating my condition. But as they scan over me, I can't help but see that she's noticed.. Noticed the new look in my eyes. How I traded out my old blood lust for something new… Something she can't put her name on, but I can. My eyes now are filled with compassion for the world around me, my victims, my enemies, my comrades, my village, and for him.. Naruto..

" You seem… happy", she finally sputters out, her eyes squint and her right eyebrow arches just a bit.

" I feel a lot better", I reply, my voice grungy from trying to sit up.

" HaHahA you really gave us a scary Gaara, we thought you were", Kankuro adds on, but suddenly drops his train of thought.

" I could not die because I was not alive", silence echoes the room. Kankuro and Temari intensely stare at me from the door way, as Naruto makes his way to my bed side.

" Well your alive now Gaara!," Naruto cheerfully joins the conversation, unaware of the awkward air that was surrounds us.

" Yes… Yes I am..", I say as I staring at the source of my change, his eyes crystal blue, sparkling with the satisfaction of changing me and the satisfaction of me being… happy? He's truly happy that I'm happy, I can see it in his eyes and in his flawless smile.

" Well were glad your alright", Temari contributes, she seems like she's beginning to relax.

" We better be heading back soon though Gaara, so you should get your strength built up", Kankuro declares.

" Whatt…", Naruto's eyes flash back in forth between the two of us, his jaw hit's the ground. " He should stay here for at least a week! Look at his condition and plus we were just becoming friends!" His brows slant inward, obviously upset and not willing to let us go through with this. Relief pours over me, I really am glad he wants me to stay.

"Well… Me and Temari really need to head back, there are plenty of missions to be filled at home especially with all the… confusion. Though maybe Gaara can stay here and recover. I'm sure he would of gotten at least a month leave on with his condition being so … fragile." Naruto's face seems to explode with joy, his smile flutters with success and his eyes sparkle with excitement.

" Don't worry! I'll take care of him. You can count on me!", Naruto proclaims, his joy to deep to deny him.

" Mmmk but were going to have to kick your ass if anything happens to him", Temari partially laughs, secretly hoping to have the opportunity to beat him up.

" Okay, well I guess we'll leave today since we don't have to wait for Gaara. Naruto, you better make sure my baby brother is okay. He might be stubborn but he's still my brother, got it?" Kankuro threatens, his face stern, obviously serious. I never realized how much Kankuro and Temari actually care about me. I always thought they hated me, fear me… but now I realize they always loved me even when I was a crazy psycho path.

"Got it", Naruto answers a little shaken and nervous.

"Well Bye guys", Temari sings as they head out the door. I begin to get out of my bed, absolutely sick of laying down in this confined box.

"Lay down!", Naruto commands as he pushes me to the mattress. " You need to rest." He whispers.

" I need to get out of this bed.. I can't .. take it…", I grunt, still trying to get up. Naruto pushes me back down again, however, this time he keeps his hand on my chest.

"Stay still", he whispers, his breath tickling my face. " Get some sleep now and tomorrow I'll take you out in a wheel chair." He jesters over to the wheel cheer facing the corner. It looks cold, old, and uncomfortable.

" That's ok.. I'll be able to walk by tomorrow", I manage to say breathless. Naruto continued to stair at me, soaking in my appearance.

" Sure Gaara", His lips whispered, despair clearly placed on his eyes. "Sure." Naruto then presumes to head towards the door, uneasiness settling on his face. " I'll be back first thing in the morning", the spark of hope returned to his eyes, radiating into mine. I felt his smile warming my skin, his hope strengthening my soul, and his determination curing my bones.

"Naruto", I whisper as he closes the door. " Thank you." My mind drifts off, dreams of the past slipping in and out of view. Images of Naruto flooded my head containing short little clips of his kindness and dedication. Finally, a deep sleep washed over me making my thoughts end.


End file.
